view from the shop floor
Talking shop
VIEW FROM THE SHOP FLOOR HITS THE ROAD FOR THE GCA CONFERENCE. By David Little
David Little has been the managing director of Poplars Garden Centre in Toddington, Bedfordshire since 1999 and is the fourth generation of the Little family to control the company, whose horticultural roots go back to the 1890s. Poplars receives visits from around a quarter of a million customers a year and turnover is in excess of £4 million. It is also a proud member of the both the HTA and GCA, of which David is an executive committee member and area chairman of the North Thames branch. Here David continues his contribution to our ‘view from the shop floor’ series.
This month my contribution doesn’t come from the shop floor – I thought I would share my experiences of the GCA’s annual gathering and bring to you a View from the Conference Floor.
F
or three days in late January, the GCA gathered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Chipping Norton;183 garden centre delegates representing 53 of the 82 member companies joined with 168 associate delegates from 78 manufacturers, suppliers and service provider companies for a conference of fun, friendship and fellowship. We came to learn from one another, to share experiences, see best practice and make new friends and acquaintances. On Sunday afternoon the event kicked off with the inaugural Greenfingers Challenge Trophy Rugby match at Stow RFC Club. Garden centre buyers and their supplier’s representatives took to the field to thrash out
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new terms for 2011. I can report that there were, in my opinion, two winners; firstly the Greenfingers Charity that benefitted by a sum in excess of £16,000 and secondly all those who were involved and won new friendships (even if the final score showed a five-point victory to the suppliers!) Conference proper began on Monday morning and every session in the 300-capacity conference centre was packed out. After a brief AGM the GCA’s very own chief inspector Ian Boardman took the stage and began the countdown of the 50 best garden centres in the UK. He showed examples of stunning displays and immaculate retailing. The information and innovation just kept on coming and I’m sure I could hear 300 pens scribbling notes in perfect unison at one point. This is the GCA at its best: sharing ideas and raising standards even higher. In typical Boardman style Ian built up the excitement as we drew closer to finding out who
was the garden centre at number one, the best of the best. As we approached the top 10 he stopped and promised to reveal the very best and the overall winners the next day. The identities of the 2010/2011 Garden Centre of the Year and Destination Garden Centre of the year would remain secret for another 24 hours. Roger Crookes then gave a fantastic reminder of the products that lie at the very heart of what we do: plants. This was a common theme throughout conference. He took us through the results of the GCA’s annual plant display competition. Once again we were treated to slides of the most stunning plant displays; those full of humour, information, education and above all inspiration. Liz Hutson took us on a whistle-stop tour of the country’s finest garden centre Christmas displays and home living departments. The standards of display easily rival the very best on the high street. It was a reminder
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